The Dirty Truth About McDonald's All-Day Breakfast

We love Mickey D's for giving us the gift of McMuffins and hash browns all day, err day … but after reading details about how all-day breakfast really operates, we're less inclined to dig in. Australian Reddit users—many, current or former McDonald's employees—aired their complaints about the change via a heated discussion thread this week, shedding light on many problems caused by extended brekkie hours. Better read up before you eat up!

1. All-day breakfast makes it harder to clean the equipment

Having the equipment necessary to cook items from the breakfast and regular menu simultaneously makes for a tight squeeze in many of the chain's kitchens. To help fit it all in, several locations have acquired portable grills specifically for eggs, which are outfitted with attached ring molds—a handy solution, but one that's reportedly difficult to clean properly. If you've ever scrubbed a pan after making scrambled eggs, it makes sense.

2. It's raising the risk of food contamination

Without a structured switchover from breakfast to lunch, equipment and utensils may be used to cook and handle various food products. One commenter noted that "Sausage and 10-1 {burger patties} regularly go down on the same grill one after the other without a steam clean," while another claims that "the workers will more than likely use the same tongs for meat as eggs and not change their gloves unless asked."

3. People with allergies are seriously in danger

Cross contamination can be really scary for customers who are allergic to egg or gluten products. Grain-fed beef (the type McDonald's uses) does not contain gluten, but sausage does, so diners could be at risk if employees are cooking both items on the same grill without proper cleaning.

4. Workers are getting ingredients mixed up

According to two commenters, McDonald's workers are straight up using the wrong ingredients in some orders, serving customers cheeseburgers with sausage patties rather than beef, or burgers sandwiched between English muffins instead of buns. We're not against breakfast-lunch mash-ups, but McDonald's better sort this out before they piss off hungry customers with specific tastes!

5. Breakfast orders really slow things down in the afternoon

Several current and former employees at Australian McDonald's locations reported that around 3pm, demand for the breakfast menu dips and workers are directed to cook those items to order. They cook eggs and hash browns in small batches, which can be a pain for employees, and a bummer for customers who have started experiencing wait times (up to five minutes) that hardly qualify their meal as "fast food."

6. And if your breakfast order isn't slow, chances are it isn't fresh either

You know that slump that hits in the afternoon, when browsing Facebook sounds way better than doing office work? When McDonald's employees get drowsy, it's easy to skip the time-consuming task of steam-cleaning the grill when switching from burgers to sausage and back again. Some employees even claim they've seen their co-workers skip the "cook to order" instruction entirely, making a bunch of eggs at once, then serving it over the next five hours. Gross.

7. It could even be jacking up the prices

Just last month, the chain upped the price of its McPick2 For $2 menu and Reddit users have noticed the cost of hash browns inching upward lately as well. We don't have confirmation on whether this is a direct result of all-day breakfast, but with all the problems the menu seems to be causing, the chain will likely need to pay up to fix it.

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